Eagles battle Buffaloes in 2A Bi-District playoffs

November 11, 2011

Saturday night in Plainview, the Sanford-Fritch Eagles will take on the Forsan Buffaloes in the 2A Division II Bi-District playoff round.
Two weeks ago, the Eagles finished the regular season on a positive note with an impressive 42-14 win over Spearman, then enjoyed a bye last week.
The Eagle offense came alive during District 1-2A Div II play, leading to the team having the second ranked offense in the Texas Panhandle in Class 3A and 2A, averaging 376 yards per game.
Junior Eagle running back Colton Valle finished the regular season as the top rusher in the Texas Panhandle with 1,809 yards and 17 touchdowns.
But the Eagles have shown they can throw the ball with senior quarterback Chris Bryan throwing for 1300 yards with 15 touchdowns.
For Saturday, the Eagles will take on a Buffalo defense that has a couple of good playmakers led by defensive back Marcus Cervantes and linebacker Patrick Robles. However, the Buffaloes gave up an average of 31 points per game in district play, which should mean the Eagles will have some good opportunities to put points on the scoreboard.
The Eagle defense will line up across a Buffalo team that is also dangerous on offense and has good team speed.
The Buffaloes are known for having a good running game. But the team has the ability to be dangerous in the air, led by quarterback Foster Burchett and receiver Ty Johnson.
Both Burchett and Johnson have battled injuries in recent weeks and sat out the Buffaloesâ€™ regular season finale last week against Hawley.
In their absence, the Buffalos have seemed to have found a rising star in backup quarterback Tao MauMau.
MauMau, along with running back Brendan Roman, stepped up and had big games in the 32-19 win over Hawley, which clinched a playoff berth for the Buffaloes.
If Burchett and Johnson are able to return this week, the Eagles defense will have to deal with trying to to slow down and dangerous herd of Buffaloes.
The winner between the Eagles and Buffalos will take on Cisco next week in the Area playoff round.
Kickoff between Sanford-Fritch and Forsan is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Greg Sherwood Memorial Bulldog Stadium in Plainview.